The family of an Amazon worker who passed away while working at a fulfillment center in New Jersey during the peak of Prime Day sales has praised him as a “wonderful person.” Rafael Reynaldo Mota Frias, a resident of La Romana in the Dominican Republic, reportedly passed away on July 13 after suffering a heart attack at Carteret’s EWR9 Amazon warehouse.
Family members paid tribute to him after his terrible demise, with his niece stating, “You will never be forgotten. You will always be remembered by us as the kind of man you were. always concerned about the wellbeing and stability of others. He was devoted, amusing, and caring. According to The Daily Beast, Mota Frias’ cousin Marlen Frias expressed his sorrow at his passing by praising him as a “wonderful person” and a family man who “always worried about everyone else.”
Marlen voiced concerns about the working conditions in the warehouse, similar to Rafael’s colleagues. He was proficient at his profession, but Marlen said it was too demanding. This follows news that Mota Frias’ death was under investigation by federal authorities and the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
His death was attributed by many employees at the same facility to “the fast-paced climate inside the warehouse, which lacks air conditioning in the main work area.” Mota Frias had requested fans hours before he passed out, according to an anonymous coworker who spoke to The Daily Beast. It’s crazy because I was right there, they said. I believe that Amazon as a whole could have done far more to address the issue.
Others allegedly received orders to keep working even after the man fainted and was taken away by staff from Amazon’s on-site first aid facility, AmCare. Even if that were the case, everyone agreed that it was too hot inside for him to continue working, the unnamed insider claimed. “They are attempting to suggest he had a heart attack. Someone else remarked, “They really need to perform much, much better. A trillion-dollar company, that one. The dining area and the offices are all air-conditioned, but where the actual job gets done, we get fans, so there is no reason why these facilities shouldn’t have fully air-conditioned spaces. You may anticipate that it will be hot indoors while it is hot outdoors. This unfortunate common occurrence should not be occurring at all.
Both sources continued by saying that after Mota Frias passed away, water and Liquid IV electrolyte tablets were distributed to every employee. “If that [the warehouse temperature] had nothing to do with his death, why have they started handing out bottled water at our stations since his death? The following day, bosses began advising us to stay hydrated and drink water,” a third employee claimed.
The Daily Beast was made aware of a complaint that was sent to OSHA’s Avenel office. It stated, “On July 13, a person at our facility passed away from a heat stroke.” He was complaining to the bosses about how hot his workplace was. Many others also voiced complaints. They simply advised staff to get through it and they would be fine. After two hours, he passed away.
The unidentified person also charged Amazon of disseminating false information, saying, “The AM-Care staff simply arrived, placed him on a wheel, covered his face with a mask, and rolled him through the facility like nothing had occurred! We were all stunned. Now, management is warning everyone that if they discuss or bring up his “death in the parking lot,” they will be fired! The breaking point for me with this firm was this incident.
The grassroots Amazon Labor Union’s president, Chris Smalls, made some severe accusations against the firm on Twitter on July 21. “Learned some disturbing things about the deceased colleague,” he wrote. He was unconscious on the floor for more than 20 minutes, they told me, and it took them almost an hour to call 911. He forewarned management of chest symptoms that stopped him from working in hot settings as a water spider.
Sam Stephenson, a representative for Amazon, denied all charges. He declared, “There have been reports claiming that his death was tied to his employment; those claims are untrue. This occurrence was not connected to my job, as determined by our internal review, but rather to a personal medical problem. Based on the information we currently have about the incident’s investigation by OSHA, we firmly anticipate that it will come to the same conclusion.
It has been a horrible circumstance for the family of our employee and his coworkers at EWR9, Stephenson continued. We are in touch with his family to offer support, and we are also giving employees who require further care access to counseling resources.